Table of contents for Issue 294 in Rhythm

How the mighty have risen... We asked the death metal legends’ drummer Jocke what the story was behind their incredible drum riser? “…We wanted to take it to the next level. Instead of just changing the stage props we came up with the idea to raise the drums for a couple of songs. It’s inspired by the rock/metal bands from when we were kids such as Iron Maiden…” How does it feel to play at that height? “It feels great… The view is spectacular and I can see every single one of the audience from there.“ Best thing about playing live? “The best thing about playing live is just that; playing live. The energy the audience gives back to us on stage is incredible and since it’s live music, it’s…

You’re touring with Big Country for the 35th anniversary of the Steeltown album. How do you approach that music now? “I can normally remember the drumming instinctively, it’s like riding a bike. I get most of the parts pretty damn accurate but to fine-tune I go on the internet and look at what I was doing back then because your styles grow as a drummer, they evolve, you get new ideas and inspiration so within certain grooves you add different fills and things. It’s one of those double-edged swords where you have to be careful to do the key drum fills so as not to disappoint the die-hard fans who seem to know more about my drumming than I do. I see them in the front row playing the same…

The Flam This issue’s rudiment is the flam. It’s the cornerstone of the family of flam rudiments and one which requires the ability to play a flam leading with either hand. This sounds straightforward enough; a flam is simply one hand preceding the other with a quieter grace note. However, it’s a figure that is frequently misplayed, with most drummers tending to favour one flam direction, a trait which can sometimes materialise in two of the same direction flams mistakenly being played but just with different dynamics. One of the keys to developing hand-to-hand flams is the concept that the hands are never in the same place, high or low, at the same time. This encourages the hand playing the grace note to remain at a low height while the…

“THE BEARING EDGES ARE SANDED FLAT, WHICH GIVES THE DRUMS A REALLY DARK AND THUDDY TONE, GREAT FOR ROCK.” OWNER, GILES HENSHAW The 1970's fashion for synthetic shell drums threw up some of the most adventurous designs ever. This dazzling Italian kit was made by Caldironi and Meazzi of Milan, originally the brainchild of bass player Franco Caldironi. The kit’s owner, Derby-based drummer Giles Henshaw, explains, “Meazzi was an Italian distributor of musical instruments (drums, guitars, keyboards, microphones, etc.) and the kit dates back to the early–mid '70s. The Hollywood model was top-of-the-range and included both wood shelled and synthetic drums, the latter known as Cristalline. “I got the kit off eBay about 10 years ago from a retired club drummer in Leicester. It had been in his loft for…

“ I never really saw myself as a band guy,” says Andrew Marshall. “Even when I was in bands, I still felt like, how do I do justice to their music, how do I fit into their music?” Originally from New York, Marshall’s career path was inspired by the legends of the session world. “When I was a kid getting into music, I wasn’t necessarily checking out bands so much as I was checking out drummers,” he says. “I’d go on drummerworld.com, before YouTube that was the source of drummer videos. I’d watch Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro, Vinnie Colaiuta, and I’d be like, oh, he played on a Steely Dan record, he played on a Carly Simon record. I was into session players, touring players. That’s how I always imagined…

Welcome back to our newly designed reviews section and a happy New Year to you all! We hope that Santa brought you that new drum gear you were hoping for. I must have been a good boy as I found a ’70’s Gretsch Chrome Over Brass under the tree! Below we’re talking New Year’s drumming resolutions with our review team; do you think they’ll stick to them? Taking centre stage this issue we have the brand new Special Edition Legend Series Executive kit from the British Drum Company. As a special treat, our veteran reviewer and resident vintage expert, Geoff Nicholls popped over to our new studio and the two of us spent the day putting the kit through its paces. Former Rhythm editor and e-drumming expert, Stuart Williams takes…

KEITH KEOUGH The CEO and founder of the BDC is also one of the world’s leading drum designers. Keith, you’re particularly proud of your shells? “They’re the result of years of building and testing. We make our own veneers from our own single-ply finest grade-A Finnish birch - the hardest wood from the tree centre. Other companies buy plywood pre-fabricated, that’s occasionally sapwood, not the same quality.” What exactly is the Executive finish? “It’s made from black tulip. We literally chop that up using a Stanley knife and we hand inlay the pinstripe lines! We don’t use saws or a veneer stitcher, we book-match veneers by hand.” The finish is the major difference between Legend and Legend SE? “It accounts for the price difference (around 20-30%). That and the mahogany…

Here we’re exploring an alternative approach to developing ghost notes which involves maintaining a pattern played between the snare and bass drum while the right hand plays different rhythms over the top. All of the examples in this lesson feature the same bass drum and snare pattern throughout which we could think of here as a combination of 3/3/2 with the bass drum playing the first note of each group and the snare accenting its first note in the second group of three to create a 2 and 4 backbeat. We begin in Example 1 with the right hand and bass drum playing simultaneously, almost as though the snare is filling in the spaces. Next in Example 2, the right hand plays eighth notes. This introduces the idea of layered…

DRUMMER: Topper Headon “London Calling’ is the title track of The Clash’s third studio album and its stark quarter-note guitar rhythm over the four-on-the-floor drum groove is immediately identifiable. It’s a sound that has influenced many other artists, with Queens Of The Stone Age’s ‘No One Knows’ and Green Day’s ‘Holiday’ both featuring similar approaches. Essentially this feel is about stating a staccato quarter-note pulse, in this case between both the drums and guitars simultaneously, with the bass’s movement the only thing stating the swung eighth-note subdivision until the arrival of the overdubbed toms. It is possible to play this tom figure within the basic feel however it sounds like they’re overdubbed on the original which would have also allowed them to be processed differently to the rest of the…

Chris Welch Chris is a writer and drummer. He was features editor of Melody Maker in the ’60s and ’70s where he wrote about Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and many more. He is the author of bestselling books on Yes, Cream, David Bowie, Vivian Stanshall, Led Zeppelin, John Bonham and Eric Clapton. “Here is a photo of myself (left) with Marilyne my wife (smoking a St. Moritz menthol cigarette), and Ginger Baker, seen on our way to a gig by the Baker Gurvitz Army, in Paris, in 1975. Ginger is probably shouting directions at the French driver. Or he could be shouting abuse!” My drumming New Year’s resolution “To buy a brand new, shiny, limited edition classic drum kit and play in a big…

“The album Visions of the Emerald Beyond by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, released in 1975, had a far-reaching influence on my drumming concepts and vocabulary. The drummer on the album is Narada Michael Walden. When I heard the opening track, ‘Eternity’s Breath – Part 1’, I was blown away by the sound, intensity and ideas coming out of my speakers. The drumming was so over-the-top that I listened to that track over and over again. “Narada’s playing style was a unique synthesis of Benny Benjamin, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham, Buddy Miles, Bernard Purdie and Billy Cobham. The original Mahavishnu Orchestra burst onto the music scene in 1971 with Billy Cobham on drums. Narada had a strong background in groove playing growing up in the Detroit, Michigan area and it was Billy’s…

PRICE: £2,250 Something is changing in the world of digital drums. While triggering and layering samples on top of an acoustic kit is nothing new, it wasn’t that long ago that gigging a purely electronic kit with the aim of emulating acoustic sounds was pretty much out of the question. For a kick-off, they looked weird, and more importantly, the sample quality just wasn’t up to the job without being bolstered by some real dynamics from the drums. More recently, however, the advances in hard drives and computer processing mean that housing gigabytes of velocity-layered samples within a module can now be a realistic goal. Couple this with plenty of options in terms of realistic shell-like pad designs, and we are now at a point where digital drums are becoming…

PRICES: Single £259 Double £569 During many successful years in production and particularly since the release of its workhorse Iron Cobra pedal in 1992, Tama has forged a reputation not only for high-level drum craftsmanship but also reliable and heavy duty hardware. The Japanese company whose pedal range also includes the Speed Cobra is now moving in a new direction with its first direct-drive offering. With a title reminiscent of classic drum products from days-gone-by, you could be forgiven for assuming that Tama’s new offering will be a lightweight, vintage-inspired affair but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Dyna-Sync is, in fact, an impressively heavy duty bit of kit with a host of modern features. The name is derived from Tama’s new ‘Dynamic Synchronisation System’ which combines three…

Welcome to another drum lesson in my Getting Started series! Today we are looking at ghost notes. What is a ghost note? A ghost note is a note with rhythmic value but no discernible pitch. For example, a muted string plucked in rhythm but with no actual pitched note. Drummers interpret ghost notes as very light, muted taps on a drum, the key word being “muted”. Please note: they are not to be confused with grace notes which have a musical pitch but no rhythmic or mathematical value! Most people’s favourite example of ghosting in a drum groove is Jeff Porcaro’s drum track on ‘Rosanna’ by Toto. Heads up The key to this technique is ‘dynamics’. Instead of trying to make your ghost notes quieter, start at the bottom of…

This month we are going to revisit a trusty old phrase that has been well-used since the dawn of rock! Ruffs can be played in lots of different ways on the drum kit. Four-stroke ruffs are traditionally played on the snare – three quiet notes preceding an accent – but they can also be split or shared between the drums. Example 1 shows this method using a four-stroke ruff, firstly descending from the snare, down the toms to the kick drum and then ascending back up to the snare. Example 2 then places this in a musical context. Preceding three bars of groove, the first fill features an extra 16th note added on the end of each ruff to create a flowing fill. Then the second fill expands on this…

In the previous issue, we took our first step to creating a hybrid kit by incorporating a sound module and electronic drum pad into our existing acoustic setup. To build on this foundation, this lesson will explore acoustic drum triggers – what are they and how can we use them? Put simply, the trigger is a device that attaches to any drum, picking up vibrations from the drum head and sending them as electronic signals to the sound module. Working in exactly the same way as a drum pad, the benefit of the acoustic trigger is that we can essentially give any one of our drums the capability of an e-drum, hearing both the programmed sound and the original acoustic sound. This is called layering. Tech Talk Acoustic Trigger The…

Heather Nova Track: ‘Winter Blue’ Album: Siren “It was about 6pm and everybody locked into each other’s vibe at that minute. There was complete silence after the take and we all knew something magical had just happened. I’ll never forget that moment, they don’t come too often. It was a time when everyone was spiritually in the same place with the song. There’s not so much structure at the start of the song, it just falls into place and I think we caught on at the same time and just sailed on it. I just played from my soul.” Stevie Nicks Track: ‘Rooms On Fire’ Album: The Other Side of the Mirror “…My first US Number One. I’d stay up all night with Stevie just talking. She was the nicest…

When Rhythm was invited to the British Drum Co. headquarters for a top secret announcement, the glint in the eyes of the BDC team told us it was something big. Before the official announcement party heralding Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain as the BDC’s latest signing (held fittingly at the home of Trooper beer, Robinsons Brewery) we had a sit down with the man of the hour and got the low-down on his switch from Sonor. Brimming with enthusiasm for his new partnership with the Manchester-based company, the Iron Maiden sticksman tells us, “I’m very, very excited to have come to BDC. I have committed to this wonderful family and they’ve embraced me, as I have them.” For a relatively new drum company (formed in 2015), British Drum Co. is already…

What was your introduction to drumming? “I started at school. I took some lessons but it was all just patterns on the snare and I wasn’t really interested. I just stopped going. I watched this music channel on telly where it would show you basic drum lessons so I watched that and just copied. I just wanted to play songs. My brother Kiaran [The Sherlock’s frontman] started writing songs and we started jamming as a band, playing local working men’s clubs so I just started learning songs like [Arctic Monkeys’] ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. I learnt more just through jamming songs with the band. We’re all pretty much self-taught in The Sherlocks.” Has being self-taught had a major impact on your playing style? “I honestly believe…

We’ve all had that feeling… what am I doing? I don’t belong here! I’m going to get caught out! I’m not good enough! Imposter syndrome has certainly been the unwanted linchpin of my drumming life. For years, I was convinced that at any given moment, someone was going to knock on my door and call me out as a fraud! In all honesty, I still feel that way sometimes, but have found some strategies to reverse it, and to feel stronger and more confident. So, when that creeping voice of doubt rears its ugly head, I ask myself, what triggered me to feel like an imposter? Personally, it can be something on social media, a conversation, or just being in the room with people I don’t feel ‘good enough’ for.…

VULCAN DARK MASTER CYMBALS Where Italian design meets traditional Turkish craftsmanship… now there’s something you don’t hear every day. Born from the slopes of Mount Etna, these volcanic-themed cymbals are actually crafted in the home of cymbal making – Istanbul, Turkey. Produced using traditional hammering and lathing techniques, Vulcan Cymbals are manufactured in small quantities by hand, resulting in each cymbal possessing its own unique character. Despite being a very young company, Vulcan already boasts a wide selection of cymbal lines. With a total of 12 product ranges, Vulcan aims to provide something for every type of player, regardless of stylistic tendencies. The full selection of series includes Classic, Antique, Rock, Legend, Etna, Legacy, EFX, White Master, Dark Master, Vintage ’50s, Papa and Vesuvio. The Dark Master series pictured are…

PRICES: 22"x16" bass £1,180 12"x8" tom £625 14"x14" floor tom £994 16"x16" floor tom £1,035 14"x6½" snare drum £639 From the off in September 2015, the British Drum Company, based in Stockport, Cheshire, vowed to maintain the loftiest ideals of design and workmanship. The result is finally here with this magnificent kit from the flagship Legend Series – of which this is a Special Edition. Over and above the Legend, the SE has two special finishes (one traditional, one hi-tech) and also extra mahogany reinforcement rings inside its birch shells. BDC’s website images of the Special Edition show a knockout kit with a glorious outer veneer of “book-matched Spalted Beech taken from our private stock”. Our review kit, however, has a more subdued charcoal pinstripe finish, appropriately called Executive. Cold…

PRICES: 14" Crash £62 16" Crash £70 18" Crash £78 20" Ride £93 14" Hi-hats £101 UFO Cymbal Set (14", 16", 20" & bag) £202 UFO Cymbal Set XL (14", 16", 18", 20" & bag) £249 Landing amidst the bustling market of practice cymbal choices comes a new range from a new name – UFO. Based in Denmark, the brand was launched last year by gKompagny, best known for manufacturing SlapKlatz dampening gels. Deliberately quiet cymbals were devised to meet the practice needs of drummers (and the peace and quiet needs of their neighbours). While silencing pads reduce the volume of acoustic drums with a negligible effect on feel, conventional cymbal dampening solutions choke the life out of the sound and make the bronze feel stiff and unyielding. Rather than…

Welcome to Beats Working where in this issue Colin, Erik and myself explore the world of ghost notes in our respective ‘Getting Started’, ‘Creative Concepts’ and ‘Technical Difficulties’ lessons. In ‘Percussion Toolbox’ all-round percussion guru Pete Lockett continues his look at playing the cajon and how we can directly apply certain aspects of kit playing. In his “drum lesson without picking up the sticks” on page 84, Mike looks at ideas for developing creativity, while in ‘So You Want To Play Hybrid?’ on page 89, Tom Bradley continues his look at integrating electronics into an acoustic kit set-up. In ‘Four-Piece Fills’ on page 79, Jason offers another killer four-piece fill idea, this time featuring four-stroke ruffs broken up between the hands and bass drum. And finally, our play-along tracks include…

Welcome to part two of this basic primer on the fundamentals of the cajon. Last time we looked at the three main strokes – the bass tone, touch tone and sharp accented tone (or slap, see picture below). Then we looked at a few hybrid ‘non-traditional’ grooves to get on the move as quickly as possible. This time we will expand on that a little more. It’s worth remembering here as well, that these articles are merely a starting place on the instrument and would be ideal for any drum set player who might want to add some percussion to their musical world. In Example 1, we will add in a slap/sharp stroke with the left hand on the last 16th note of the bar. Getting the right and left…

DRUMMER: Danny Wagner Few rock bands have experienced the rapid rise to fame of Michigan-based quartet Greta Van Fleet. Their debut EP Black Smoke Rising, from which ‘Highway Tune’ was the first single, was only released in 2017. Since then, brothers Josh, Jake and Sam Kiszka, along with drummer Danny Wagner, have gone on to become regarded as the new saviours of classic rock. Their music is often regarded as possessing more than a knowing nod to Led Zeppelin but for many fans, it’s this fresh interpretation of that classic sound which lies at the heart of their appeal. “…OFTEN REGARDED AS POSSESSING MORE THAN A KNOWING NOD TO LED ZEPPELIN BUT FOR MANY FANS, IT’S THIS FRESH INTERPRETATION OF THAT CLASSIC SOUND WHICH LIES AT THE HEART OF THEIR…